“And because of you, Flo, I’ve made a new friend, too.”
Finally!Flo thinks.A man!
“Who?” Flo asks, trying unsuccessfully to sound casual.
“Mimi. The woman you met at the library. I went over and introduced myself, and we went out for lunch and talkedabout how if we were being honest, we didn’t think a dating site would ever work for either of us, ever. But we sure did like each other.”
“I guess I won’t get hired to be the host ofThe Dating Game.”
“Well, you’ll like this. I did go out on a date just yesterday. Just for coffee.”
“Isn’t that wonderful! Who is he? Where did you meet him?”
“I’ve known him for a while. He’s a cashier at the grocery store I go to.” She smiles. “He’s funny. And just…nice. We talk a lot whenever he rings me up; I always go to his line. So the other day he asked if we could have coffee. And we did.”
“Can you give me some juicy details?” Flo asks.
“Not really,” Teresa says, and she is staring hard into her lap.
“Well, you two take all the time you need. Seems to me the best relationships come when you can take your time. You just go at your own pace. Sooner or later, I hope you’ll—”
“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves,” Teresa says. “I don’t think we’ll really work out or anything.”
“You didn’t like him?”
“No, I liked him a lot. He has a parakeet named Zelda that he lets fly around his house. He said the bird knows where the crackers are and she always flies to that cupboard when she wants one. He cooks at a soup kitchen every Saturday. He just bought an electric bike, and he said he saved up for it in a Mason jar just like when he was a kid and savedup for his first Schwinn. Said he eschewed the bell this time, but he might get streamers. But…things justdon’t last for me, Flo. Sometimes it’s them, more often it’s me. I just end up…I just stop.”
“Why?”
“I guess I get disappointed. I end up thinking it’s better for me to be alone.”
Flo gets tight in the chest like she might even cry and says, “Oh, Teresa. Hasn’t your work taught you how very little time any of us has? And how much richer life is when—”
“My lifeisrich, Flo. Honestly! My work, my hobbies. My freedom! It seems that people never believe you can be fine alone, but youcanbe. Whenever I try to have a relationship, I find I have too many unrealistic expectations.”
“Like what?”
Teresa leans her head back onto the rocker and closes her eyes. “I ought to write scripts for Disney. I always want somethingwonderfulto happen.”
“Such as?”
“Oh, I don’t know.”
“Sure you do. Yank out something deep in your heart that you wish he would do, and tell me what it is.”
“Okay. Well, I guess what I would love is if he would call me late at night and say ‘Don’t get dressed, just get ready for me to come by and pick you up in fifteen minutes.’ And then he would drive me out of town in my nightie and make me get out of his car and tell me to look at the stars and the immense black sky and then he would say, ‘I need all this room to hold the feelings I have for you. And have had, for a long time.’ ”
Teresa has been talking like she was in a dream, but now she seems to snap back into herself. “Good grief, I guess I’munder the influence of your romantic ways. What a dumb idea.”
“It’s not a dumb idea. I suggestyoudo it tohim!”
Teresa points to herself and raises her eyebrows.
“Why not?” Flo asks. “Not everyone seems to know this but a lot of men like romantic things just as much as women do.”
“Huh.”
“They do!”
